Child support enforcement for teenage fathers: Problems and prospects

The NLSY data indicate that about 7.3 percent of teenage males become fathers and that very few of these fathers live with their children. Father absence and the concurrent increase in female-headed households are closely associated with the impoverishment of children. Most absent teen fathers never come into contact with the child support enforcement program, and the extent to which they financially support their children informally is not well understood. While the income of absent teen fathers is low in the teen years, it increases over time, as does the potential for collecting child support. Nevertheless, men who were absent teen fathers earn less in early adulthood than men who deferred parenting until age twenty or later and teen fathers who lived with their children. Early establishment of paternity and greater standardization in the treatment of adolescent fathers by the child support enforcement program are recommended. Further, the substantial and persistent income deficit experienced by adolescent fathers who live apart from their children raises an interesting dilemma. While children may benefit financially and psychosocially from living with two parents, the lower income of men who were absent teenage fathers may make them poor marital prospects. This raises doubts about the recent recommendations of some scholars that we should bring back the shotgun wedding.

Another factor to consider in choosing a child support guideline: Errors in child support calculations

In an effort to standardize the calculation of monthly child support awards, the federal government requires states to use preestablished formulas to determine the amount of awards. However, because of human error, differences in the experience and training of the officials making the calculations, and the extent to which computers are used to calculate the awards, the formulas do not always yield the same result. In fact, the discrepancy between the amount calculated by an individual child support official and the approved amount as calculated by the state in which that official works can be quite large, on the order of several hundred dollars. Adopting simpler formulas will reduce errors; this should be a priority even if child support officials use computers to calculate award amounts (computers can reduce errors but will not eliminate them, particularly in the case of complex formulas). Efforts to further the training and education of personnel who calculate awards would also help, and child support offices should revise their formulas to cover high-income cases.

Public policy and mental health : avenues for prevention

79 hlm.; Ilus.; 25 cm

The Path and Promise of Fatherhood for Gang Members

While an increase in research on criminal desistance has occurred in recent years, little research has been applied to the gang field. Using qualitative interview data, this article examines fatherhood as a potential turning point in the lives of 91 gang members in the San Francisco Bay Area. Fatherhood initiated important subjective and affective transformations that led to changes in outlook, priorities and future orientation. However, these subjective changes were not sufficient unless accompanied by two additional features: first, changes in the amount of time spent on the streets and, second, an ability to support oneself or one's family with legal income. Though fath1erhood is no panacea, becoming a father did act as an important turning point toward desistance and motivator for change for some.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Gender and Contextual Factors in Adolescent Dating Violence

This study explored the occurrence of violence in adolescent dating relationships, the contexts in which violence occured, and the reactions of adolescents involved in the violence. Six hundred and thirty-five high school students were surveyed using a dating violence questionnaire that included items modified from the Conflict Tactics Scales. Analyses focused on comparing male and female reports of victimization in current and past dating relationships. Consistent with some previous studies, male and female adolescents did not differ in overall frequency of violence in dating relationships. However, adolescent girls experienced significantly higher levels of severe violence and reported more severe physical and emotional reactions to the violence.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68357/2/10.1177_1077801298004002004.pd